Techniques for providing multimedia communication services to a subscriber

ABSTRACT

A technique for providing multimedia communication services to a subscriber includes receiving a communication query for the subscriber, the communication query having an associated requested communication mode. The technique also includes servicing the communication query for the subscriber using the requested communication mode when the requested communication mode corresponds to one of one or more selected communication modes.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is generally directed to multimedia communicationservices and, more particularly, to techniques for providing multimediacommunication services to a subscriber.

BACKGROUND

In general, an Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) provides aframework for delivering Internet protocol (IP) multimedia communicationservices to wireless and wireline subscriber terminals. A typical IMSnetwork employs an IP-based protocol (e.g., session initiation protocol(SIP)) to facilitate integration with the Internet. In general, an IMSnetwork facilitates access of multimedia and voice applications acrosswireless and wireline subscriber terminals. IMS employs a horizontalcontrol layer that isolates an access network from a service layer.Alternative and overlapping technologies for providing access andprovisioning of services across wired and wireless networks generallyinclude some combination of a generic access network, softswitches, andsome variation of SIP. In a typical implementation, an IMS networkincludes a collection of different functions that are linked bystandardized interfaces. A subscriber can connect to an IMS networkusing various methods that employ a standard IP.

Subscriber terminals, such as mobile telephones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), and computers, can normally register directly into anIMS network, even when the subscriber terminals are roaming in anothernetwork. Typically, the only requirement is that a subscriber terminaluse Ipv4 (or Ipv6) and run SIP user agents. An IMS network may typicallysupport fixed access (e.g., digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modems,Ethernet, etc.), mobile access (wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), CDMA2000, global system for mobile communications (GSM),general packet radio service (GPRS), etc.), and wireless access(wireless local area network (WLAN), worldwide interoperability formicrowave access (WiMAX), etc.). IMS networks usually support othertelephone systems, such as plain old telephone service (POTS), H.323,and IMS incompatible voice over IP (VoIP) systems, through gateways.

A typical IMS network includes a home subscriber server (HSS) thatimplements a subscriber database, which supports IMS network entitiesthat handle calls/sessions. The HSS typically maintainssubscription-related information (e.g., subscriber profiles), performsauthentication and authorization, and can provide information about aphysical location of a subscriber. An IMS network also usually includesa subscriber location function (SLF) that is used to map subscriberaddresses when multiple HSSs are used. Typically, HSSs and the SLFscommunicate using a standard protocol, e.g., a Diameter protocol. An IMSnetwork usually implements private and public subscriber identities,known as an IP multimedia private identity (IMPI) and an IP multimediapublic identity (IMPU). The IMPI and the IMPU are uniform resourceidentifiers (URIs) that can be digits (e.g., the telephone URItel:+1-512-123-4567) or alphanumeric identifiers (e.g., the SIP URIsip:jane.doe@example.com). An IMPI is unique to a subscriber terminal(e.g., a telephone), which may have multiple IMPUs (e.g., a telephoneURI and an SIP URI) per IMPI. An IMPU can be shared between telephones,so both telephones can be reached with the same identity (e.g., a singletelephone number for an entire family).

An IMS network may implement multiple SIP servers, which may becollectively referred to as call session control functions (CSCFs). TheCSCFs are used to process SIP signaling packets. A proxy CSCF (P-CSCF)is usually an SIP server that is the first point of contact for asubscriber terminal. The proxy-CSCF can be located either in a visitednetwork (in full IMS networks) or in a home network (when the visitednetwork is not IMS compliant). Some IMS networks may implement a sessionborder controller (SBC) to implement the functionality of the P-CSCF. Ina typical implementation, a subscriber terminal discovers a P-CSCF witha dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), or is assigned to a P-CSCFduring registration. The P-CSCF may inspect every message from/to asubscriber terminal and usually authenticates and establishes a securityassociation with a subscriber terminal to prevent spoofing and replayattacks and to protect the privacy of a subscriber. In a typicalimplementation, other nodes of the IMS network trust the P-CSCF and, assuch, do not have to re-authenticate the subscriber terminal. The P-CSCFmay also compress and decompress SIP messages to reduce utilizedbandwidth over communication links.

A P-CSCF may also employ a policy decision function (PDF) thatauthorizes media plane resources, e.g., quality of service over themedia plane for policy control, bandwidth management, etc. In a typicalIMS network, one or more serving-CSCFs (S-CSCFs) are employed as acentral node in the signaling plane. The S-CSCF normally functions as anSIP server and also performs session control. The S-CSCF is usuallyalways located in the home network. The S-CSCF may employ Diameter Cxand Dx interfaces to the HSS to download and upload user profiles andusually handles SIP registrations, which allows the S-CSCF to bind tothe subscriber location (e.g., the IP address of the subscriberterminal) and the SIP address. The S-CSCF may inspect all signalingmessages and is usually configured to decide to which applicationserver(s) an SIP message will be forwarded. The S-CSCF typicallyprovides routing services (e.g., telephone number mapping (ENUM)look-ups) and can enforce policies of a network operator. In a typicalIMS network, multiple S-CSCFs may be employed for load distribution andavailability. Usually, in an IMS network, an HSS assigns the S-CSCF to asubscriber terminal when it is queried by an interrogating-CSCF(I-CSCF).

An I-CSCF is an SIP function that is located at the edge of anadministrative domain. An IP address of an I-CSCF is maintained (e.g.,using naming authority pointer (NAPTR) types of DNS records) in a domainname system (DNS) of the administrative domain. In this manner, remoteservers can locate an I-CSCF and use the I-CSCF as a forwarding pointfor SIP packets to the administrative domain. The I-CSCF usually queriesthe HSS using the Diameter Cx interface to retrieve the subscriberlocation (Dx interface is typically used from I-CSCF to SLF to locatethe appropriate HSS) and then routes the SIP request to an assignedS-CSCF. The entry point function may be removed from the I-CSCF andincluded within an interconnection border control function (IBCF), whichmay provide a gateway to external networks, and provide network addresstranslation (NAT) and firewall functions.

In an IMS network, application servers (ASs) host and execute servicesand interface with the S-CSCF using, for example, SIP. Depending on theservice provided by an AS, the AS may operate in SIP proxy mode, SIPuser agent mode, or SIP back-to-back user agent (B2BUA) mode. An AS maybe located in a home network or in an external third-party network. Iflocated in the home network, an AS can query the HSS using a Diameterinterface (for an SIP AS) or a mobile application part (MAP) interface(for an IP multimedia service switching function (SSF)).

An IMS network also typically includes one or more media servers, whichimplement media resource functions (MRFs). An MRF is designed to providea source of media in a home network. For example a media server may:play audio/video announcements; facilitate multimedia conferencing by,for example, mixing audio streams; perform text-to-speech conversion andspeech recognition; and perform real-time transcoding of multimedia data(e.g., conversion between different codecs). MRFs may be further dividedinto a media resource function control (MRFC) and a media resourcefunction processor (MRFP). The MRFC usually functions as a signalingplane node that acts as an SIP user agent to the S-CSCF and may controlthe MRFP via, for example, a H.248 interface. The MRFP usually functionsas a media plane node that implements all media-related functions.

An IMS network may also include one or more breakout gateways (BGs). ABG provides a breakout gateway control function (BGCF), which functionsas an SIP server that performs routing functionality, based on telephonenumbers. The BGCF is usually only used when calling from the IMS networkto a telephone in a circuit switched (CS) network, such as a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN) or a public land mobile network(PLMN). A PSTN gateway interfaces the IMS network with a PSTN network.For signaling, CS networks typically use integrated services digitalnetwork (ISDN) user part (ISUP) over message transfer part (MTP), whileIMS uses SIP. For media, CS networks typically use pulse code modulation(PCM), while IMS uses a real-time transport protocol (RTP). A signalinggateway (SGW) in the IMS network may be implemented to interface with asignaling plane of a CS network to transform a stream controltransmission protocol (SCTP) (which is an Internet protocol) into a MTP(which is a signaling system 7 (SS7) protocol) to pass ISUP from a mediagateway control function (MGCF) to the CS network. The MGCF usually doescall control protocol conversion between SIP and ISUP and interfaceswith the SGW over SCTP. The MGCF may also control resources in the mediagateway (MGW), via an H.248 interface. The MGW interfaces with the mediaplane of the CS network and converts between RTP and PCM. The MGW mayalso transcode when codecs do not match.

An ENUM database may be used, for example, in conjunction with a DNSdatabase to resolve Internet namespaces for voice over Internet protocol(VoIP) subscriber terminals. More broadly, an ENUM database may be usedto map a dialed telephone number to an SIP/telephone uniform resourceidentifier (URI), an email address URI, an instant messaging (IM) URI(for presence or chat), a website address, etc. In an IMS network, anENUM server may implement a combined ENUM/DNS database and, in thiscase, essentially function as a DNS server. In a typical IMSimplementation, a S-CSCF that is serving a calling party queries an ENUMserver to resolve a called party E.164 international telephone number toan SIP URI for a VoIP subscriber terminal of a called party. Asmentioned above, an HSS stores detailed information about a subscriberand a name/address of a S-CSCF to which each subscriber terminal isregistered (and served by). When a VoIP subscriber terminal is turnedon, the terminal automatically looks for a serving IMS network and triesto connect to a P-CSCF. The VoIP subscriber terminal then sends out anSIP register message to the HSS to become a registered VoIP subscriberterminal. When a subscriber using a VoIP subscriber terminal places acall, a call signal (SIP invite message) first reaches a S-CSCF to whichthe terminal has registered (which is known as the originating S-CSCF).The originating S-CSCF then queries an ENUM server in an attempt toconvert a called party E.164 international telephone number into an SIPURI for the called party terminal. The originating S-CSCF then forwardsthe call signal (SIP invite) to an interrogating-CSCF (I-CSCF), whichforwards the call signal to a terminating S-CSCF. The terminating S-CSCFforwards the call signal to the subscriber terminal of the called partyto set up the end-to-end call path between the calling and calledparties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure may be better understood, and its numerousfeatures and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art byreferencing the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an electrical block diagram of an example Internet protocolmultimedia subsystem (IMS) that may be configured according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of an example communication query process forproviding multimedia communication services to a subscriber; and

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an example communication mode selectionprocess.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a telephone numbermapping (ENUM) system is enhanced to provide preferred multimediacommunication services to a subscriber, e.g., a person with adisability. As is well know, a traditional ENUM system is implementedthrough a suite of protocols that unify the E.164 internationaltelephone number system with the Internet domain name system (DNS) byemploying an indirect look-up method to obtain naming authority pointer(NAPTR) records, which are usually stored at a DNS database. While thediscussion herein focuses on an ENUM system as a component of Internetprotocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) network, it is contemplated that thetechniques disclosed herein are broadly applicable to other networks.According to various aspects of the present disclosure, techniques aredescribed that provide a dynamic mechanism for providing enhancedmultimedia communication services to subscribers. The techniques may be,for example, advantageously employed for a subscriber that has atemporary or permanent disability, e.g., a hearing, speaking, seeing, orupper extremity (arm/hand) disability.

In general, the techniques disclosed herein provide an optimizedsolution for a subscriber with one or more disabilities and enhance asatisfaction level of the subscriber (customer). Moreover, thetechniques disclosed herein improve the efficiency of provisioningtailored communication services and enhance the flexibility of IMS toreduce unnecessary traffic delays and call flows at run-time, e.g., bynot accessing an IMS Presence Server when a selected communicationservice indicates that the presence of a subscriber is not required. Asis known, an IMS Presence Server is capable of determining whether aparticular subscriber is currently able and willing to engage in certaincommunications (e.g., IM) on an IMS network. While the techniquesdisclosed herein are particularly advantageous when employed forsubscribers with long-term disabilities, the techniques may also benefitsubscribers with short-term disabilities, e.g., subscribers withtemporary limited eyesight or hearing due to sickness or accident, orsubscribers without disabilities.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a technique forproviding multimedia communication services to a subscriber includesreceiving a communication query, which has an associated requestedcommunication mode, for the subscriber. The technique also includesservicing the communication query for the subscriber using the requestedcommunication mode, when the requested communication mode corresponds toone of one or more subscriber selected communication modes.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system forproviding multimedia communication services to a subscriber includes asubscriber terminal and a first server. The first server is configuredto communicate with the subscriber terminal and is configured to receivea communication query, which has an associated requested communicationmode, for the subscriber terminal. The first server is also configuredto service the communication query for the subscriber terminal using therequested communication mode, when the requested communication modecorresponds to one of one or more subscriber selected communicationmodes.

According to a different aspect of the present disclosure, a techniquefor providing multimedia communication services to a subscriber includesreceiving, at a home subscriber server or an application server, acommunication mode selection for a subscriber. The communication modeselection specifies subscriber selected communication modes for thesubscriber. The technique also includes modifying, based on thecommunication mode selection, one or more naming authority pointerrecords associated with the subscriber. The one or more naming authoritypointer records, which are stored at a telephone number mapping server,correspond to the subscriber selected communication modes for thesubscriber. The technique further includes receiving a communicationquery, which has an associated requested communication mode, for thesubscriber. Finally, the technique includes servicing the communicationquery for the subscriber using the requested communication mode, whenthe requested communication mode corresponds to one of the subscriberselected communication modes.

FIG. 1 shows a relevant portion of an example Internet protocol (IP)multimedia subsystem (IMS) network 100 that includes multiple proxy callsession control functions (P-CSCFs) 130, an interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF)120, a serving CSCF (S-CSCF) 122, a home subscriber server (HSS) 124, atelephone number mapping (ENUM) server 126, a domain name system (DNS)server 141, multiple application servers (ASs) 128, multiple accessnetworks (ANs) 132, a backbone packet network 134, and multiple userequipment (UE) devices (or subscriber terminals) 118, denoted as UE1 andUE2. The subscriber terminals 118 may be configured to connect to othercircuit-switched or packet-switched networks (not shown). Signaling andbearer activities are depicted by dashed and solid lines, respectively,between the subscriber terminals 118, denoted as UE1 and UE2.

The ENUM server 126 resolves E.164 international telephone numbers toone or more uniform resource identifiers (URIs) and may provide otherDNS related services. Typically, naming authority pointer (NAPTR)records are used for translating E.164 addresses to other addresses,e.g., SIP addresses. The P-CSCFs 130 may act as session initiationprotocol (SIP) proxies that serve as a first point of contact to thesubscriber terminals 118. The I-CSCF 120 is an SIP proxy that can, amongother functions, query the HSS 124 to retrieve locations for thesubscriber terminals 118 and route SIP calls to the S-CSCF 122. TheS-CSCF 122 usually functions as an SIP server that can handle SIPregistrations, which allows the subscriber terminals 118 to be bound toa location. The S-CSCF 122 can also decide which particular one of theASs 128 to forward an SIP message to in order to provide a subscriberdesired service. For example, one of the ASs 128 may function as an IMSPresence Server. The ASs 128 can also provide routing services usingENUM look-ups, and can enforce the policy of an operator of the IMSnetwork 100. The ASs 128 may also host and execute value-added IMSservices (e.g., caller identification (ID), call waiting, push-to-talk,etc.).

According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a straightforward process of provisioning enhanced ENUM system services may beemployed. For example, a subscriber (or a proxy acting on behalf of thesubscriber) may sign-up for the enhanced ENUM system services using aweb browser, an interactive voice response (IVR) system, etc., via theHSS 124, which is in communication with the ENUM server 126. As oneexample, a blind subscriber (or a proxy for the blind subscriber) mayselect a voice-only communication mode for a dual-mode (cellular andWiFi enabled) handset and reject incoming text messages and instantmessaging (IM) chat sessions. As another example, a deaf and dumbsubscriber may select email and IM chat session communication modes andreject incoming voice calls. As yet another example, a subscriber whorecently broke both arms in an accident may temporarily select avoice-only communication mode. In this case, all incoming text messagesand IM chat sessions are rejected during a selected recovery period. Inone embodiment, a subscriber may register their personal profile(including selected communication modes) when the subscriber (or a proxyacting on behalf of the subscriber) accesses a home subscriber server(HSS). Alternatively, a subscriber may register one or more selectedcommunication modes via one of the ASs 128.

After registration, the HSS 124 or one of the ASs 128 may sendinstructions to the ENUM server 126 to modify a selected namingauthority pointer (NAPTR) record or records. As is well known, a NAPTRrecord is a type of domain name system (DNS) record that supportsregular expression (RE) based rewriting. In this case, several NAPTRrecords may be chained together to create relatively sophisticatedrewriting rules. It should be appreciated that a record may go through anumber of rewrites. For example, the telephone number +1-512-555-1212may be translated into the URI 2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.1.5.1.e164.arpa asdescribed by E.164, which defines the international publictelecommunication numbering plan used in the PSTN and some other datanetworks. A dynamic delegation discovery system (DDDS) may then beemployed to transform the URI using rewrite rules gathered from NAPTRrecords. For example, a Berkley Internet name domain (BIND)configuration for the records returned from a query for the URI2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.1.5.1.e164.arpa may be provided as follows:

$ORIGIN 2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.1.5.1.e164.arpa. IN NAPTR 100 10 “u” “E2U+sip”“!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!sip:information@pbx.example.com!”. IN NAPTR102 10 “u” “E2U+email” “!{circumflex over( )}.*$!mailto:information@example.com!”.

In the two URIs above, the first record has an order value of 100 whichis lower than 102 and, as such, is picked first. In this case, thepreference of 10 is ignored as no other rules have an order of 100. The“u” signifies a terminal rule in ENUM and URI applications, such thatthe output of the rewrite is the desired answer. If the servicedesignated with the key “sip+E2U” is supported, other rules withhigher-order values are not investigated. The regular expression (RE)“!^.*$!sip:information@pbx.example.com! ” is used to transform theoriginal query of 2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.1.5.1.e164.arpa intosip:information@pbx.example.com. In the RE, the exclamation mark ‘!’ isa delimiter and the sequence “^.*$” indicates the start of the RE. Inthe example above, if SIP is not supported,“mailto:information@example.com” may be utilized as a fall-back.

According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a permanentlyblind subscriber with a hand disability may, for example, select toturn-off all email/IM uniform resource indicators (URIs) and turn-on asession initiation protocol (SIP)/telephone URIs. As another example, apermanently deaf subscriber may select to turn-off all SIP/telephoneURIs and turn-on email/IM URIs. In this case, when caller wants to reachthe disabled person, only the preferred URIs are returned in response tothe ENUM/DNS queries. A subscriber (or a proxy of the subscriber) with ashort-term disability may also register on the HSS 124 or one of the ASs128. In this case, the HSS 124 or one of the ASs 128 sends programinstructions to modify the provisioning NAPTR in the ENUM server 126 fora certain time period. For example, if the subscriber is temporarilyblind and has a temporary hand disability, email/IM URIs may be turnedoff for a specified period and an SIP/telephone URIs may be turned on.As another example, when a subscriber is temporarily deaf, allSIP/telephone URIs may be turned off and email/IM URIs may be turned onfor a specified period. When a caller wants to reach the disabled personduring the specified time period, only the preferred URIs are returnedin response to ENUM/DNS queries. After the specified period, all theURIs are turned on and activated in the NAPTR record.

FIG. 2 shows an example communication query process 200 that isimplemented according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Theprocess 200 is initiated in block 202, at which point control transfersto block 204, where a communication query is received at a server, e.g.,one of the ASs 128. Next, in decision block 206, the server determineswhether the communication query corresponds to a subscriber selectedcommunication mode by, for example, accessing the ENUM server 126 andretrieving one or more NAPTR records for an associated subscriber. Ifthe communication query corresponds to a subscriber selectedcommunication mode, control transfers from block 206 to block 208, wherethe communication query is serviced. Following block 208, controltransfers to block 210, where the process 200 terminates. On the otherhand, if the communication query does not correspond to a subscriberselected communication mode, control transfers from block 206 to block212, where the communication query is rejected. Next, control transfersfrom block 212 to block 210.

FIG. 3 shows an example communication mode selection process 300. Inblock 302, the process 300 is initiated, at which point controltransfers to block 304. In block 304, a communication mode selection isreceived from a subscriber. For example, a subscriber utilizing asubscriber terminal 118, e.g., a personal computer, a mobile telephone,or a personal digital assistant (PD), may communicate with one of theASs 128 or the HSS 124 to register one or more selected communicationmodes. Next, in block 306, one of the ASs 128 or the HSS 124 may causeone or more NAPTR records stored at the ENUM server 126 or the DNS 141to be modified to reflect a preferred communication mode for thesubscriber. From block 306, control transfers to block 308, where theprocess 300 terminates.

As a specific example, a blind subscriber named John may select voice asthe preferred communication mode for his dual-mode handset, whoseassigned telephone number is 1-512-372-5111. In this case, John selectsto reject all incoming text messages and IM chat sessions and allow onlySIP/telephone URIs, which may be implemented as follows:

$ORIGIN 1.1.1.5.2.7.3.2.1.5.1.e164.arpa. IN NAPTR 100 10 “u” “E2U+sip”“!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!sip:john@sip-proxy.org!”. IN NAPTR 100 20 “u”“E2U+tel” “!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!tel:+15123725111!”.

As another specific example, a deaf and dumb subscriber named Mary mayselect emails and IM chat sessions as her preferred communication modes.In this case, Mary rejects all incoming voice calls and allows only textmessaging/IM chat sessions or email, which may be implemented asfollows:

$ORIGIN 2.2.2.5.2.7.3.2.1.5.1.e164.arpa. IN NAPTR 100 10 “u”“E2U+mailto” “!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!mailto: mary@company.com!”. INNAPTR 100 20 “u” “E2U+im” “!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!im:mary@company.com!”.

As yet another example, a subscriber named Jack broke both his arms andhands in a recent accident and, as such, selects voice calls as hispreferred communication mode. In this case, Jack rejects all incomingtext messages/IM chat sessions and emails and allows only SIP/telephoneURIs during a recovery period, which may be implemented as follows:

$ORIGIN 3.3.3.5.2.7.3.2.1.5.1.e164.arpa. IN NAPTR 100 10 “u” “E2U+sip”“!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!sip:jack@sip- proxy.org!”. IN NAPTR 100 20“u” “E2U+tel” “!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!tel:+15123723333!”. IN NAPTR100 30 “u” “E2U+mailto” “!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!mailto:jack@company.com!”.disabled till 08/15/2007 IN NAPTR 100 40 “u” “E2U+im”“!{circumflex over ( )}.*$!im: jack@company.com!”.disabled till08/15/2007

disabled till Aug. 15, 2007 In the above case, Jack cannot edit or typeand, as such, email and IM requests are disabled until Aug. 15, 2007.The expiration date may be implemented as an extra field that is addedin an ENUM NAPTR record and may be checked by service logic to determineif the expiration date falls within valid dates. During the period inwhich an ENUM NAPTR record is disabled, the service logic refrains fromsending the disabled ENUM NAPTR record to an S-CSCF, which performsrouting to email addresses and IM URIs. In the examples set forth above,a dynamic mechanism for providing preferred and optimized multimediaservices to a subscriber, e.g., a person with one or more permanent ortemporary disabilities, has been described that enriches a quality oflife of the subscriber while at the same time increasing satisfaction ofthe subscriber with the services provided.

Accordingly, techniques have been disclosed herein that provide improvedmultimedia communication services to a subscriber. In an alternativeembodiment, dedicated hardware implementations, such as applicationspecific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and otherhardware devices, can be constructed to implement one or more of themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments can broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. One or more embodiments describedherein may implement functions using two or more specific interconnectedhardware modules or devices with related control and data signals thatcan be communicated between and through the modules, or as portions ofan application-specific integrated circuit. Accordingly, the presentsystem encompasses software, firmware, and hardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein may be implemented by software programsexecutable by a computer system. Further, in an exemplary, non-limitedembodiment, implementations can include distributed processing,component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing.Alternatively, virtual computer system processing can be constructed toimplement one or more of the methods or functionality as describedherein.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsthat may be implemented in particular embodiments with reference toparticular standards and protocols, the invention is not limited to suchstandards and protocols. Accordingly, replacement standards andprotocols having the same or similar functions as those disclosed hereinare considered equivalents thereof.

The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of the variousembodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a completedescription of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systemsthat utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many otherembodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from thedisclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.Additionally, the illustrations are merely representational and may notbe drawn to scale. Certain proportions within the illustrations may beexaggerated, while other proportions may be minimized. Accordingly, thedisclosure and the figures are to be regarded as illustrative ratherthan restrictive.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure may be referred to herein,individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely forconvenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of thisapplication to any particular invention or inventive concept. Moreover,although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangementdesigned to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted forthe specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover anyand all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b) and is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features may begrouped together or described in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter may be directed toless than all of the features of any of the disclosed embodiments. Thus,the following claims are incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as defining separately claimedsubject matter.

The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to bedetermined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the followingclaims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited bythe foregoing detailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing multimedia communicationservices to a subscriber device, comprising: receiving, by a systemcomprising a processor, a configuration request at a communicationnetwork to disable a first communication mode of the subscriber devicefor a first time period; modifying, by the system, a first addresspointer associated with the first communication mode of the subscriberdevice at a telephone number mapping server (ENUM server) of thecommunication network according to the configuration request, whereinthe first address pointer is a naming authority pointer record that isstored at the telephone number mapping server; receiving, by the system,a communication query from a network element of the communicationnetwork to access the subscriber device by a requested communicationmode at a requested time period; retrieving, by the system, an addresspointer from the telephone number mapping server corresponding to thesubscriber device and the requested communication mode to identify aretrieved address pointer; determining, by the system, whether theretrieved address pointer indicates that the requested communicationmode is disabled for the subscriber device for the requested timeperiod; transmitting, by the system, from the communication network arejection of the communication query responsive to determining that theretrieved address pointer is disabled for the request time period; andservicing, by the system, at the communication network the communicationquery for the subscriber device using the requested communication moderesponsive to determining that the retrieved address pointer is notdisabled for the requested time period.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration request is received from the subscriberdevice.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration request isreceived from one of a home subscriber server or an application servervia one of a web browser or an interactive voice response system.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, comprising detecting, by the system, a mismatchbetween the requested communication mode and the first communicationmode.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first communication modecorresponds to a voice communication mode.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the voice communication mode conforms to a packet-switched voicecommunication mode or a circuit-switched voice communication mode. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the first communication mode correspondsto one of a text messaging communication mode, an instant messagingcommunication mode, or an email communication mode.
 8. A server device,comprising: a memory storing computer instructions; and a processorcoupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the computerinstructions, the processor performs operations comprising: receiving aconfiguration request at a communication network to disable a firstcommunication mode of a subscriber device for a first time period;modifying a first address pointer associated with the firstcommunication mode of the subscriber device at a telephone numbermapping server (ENUM server) of the communication network according tothe configuration request, wherein the first address pointer is a namingauthority pointer record that is stored at the telephone number mappingserver; receiving a communication query from a network element of thecommunication network to access the subscriber device by a requestedcommunication mode at a requested time period; retrieving an addresspointer from the telephone number mapping server corresponding to thesubscriber device and the requested communication mode to identify aretrieved address pointer; determining whether the retrieved addresspointer indicates that the requested communication mode is disabled forthe subscriber device for the requested time period; transmitting fromthe communication network a rejection of the communication queryresponsive to determining that the retrieved address pointer is disabledfor the request time period; and servicing at the communication networkthe communication query for the subscriber device using the requestedcommunication mode responsive to determining that the retrieved addresspointer is not disabled for the requested time period.
 9. The serverdevice of claim 8, wherein the server device is one of a home subscriberserver or an application server and the requested communication mode isreceived via one of a web browser or an interactive voice responsesystem.
 10. The server device of claim 8, wherein the firstcommunication mode corresponds to a voice mode.
 11. The server device ofclaim 10, wherein the voice mode includes one of a session initiationprotocol voice over Internet protocol mode or a voice telephone mode.12. The server device of claim 8, wherein the first communication modecorresponds to one of a text messaging mode, an instant messaging mode,or an email mode.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumincluding processor-readable instructions, which when executed by aprocessor cause the processor to: receiving a configuration request at acommunication network to disable a first communication mode of asubscriber device for a first time period; modifying a first addresspointer associated with the first communication mode of the subscriberdevice at a telephone number mapping server (ENUM server) of thecommunication network according to the configuration request, whereinthe first address pointer is a naming authority pointer record that isstored at the telephone number mapping server; receiving a communicationquery from a network element of the communication network to access thesubscriber device by a requested communication mode at a requested timeperiod; retrieving an address pointer from the telephone number mappingserver corresponding to the subscriber device and the requestedcommunication mode to identify a retrieved address pointer; determiningwhether the retrieved address pointer indicates that the requestedcommunication mode is disabled for the subscriber device for therequested time period; transmitting from the communication network arejection of the communication query responsive to determining that theretrieved address pointer is disabled for the request time period; andservicing at the communication network the communication query for thesubscriber device using the requested communication mode responsive todetermining that the retrieved address pointer is not disabled for therequested time period.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 13, wherein the first communication mode corresponds to a voicecommunication mode.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 13, wherein the first communication mode corresponds to a textmessaging communication mode.